<p>Following on the heels of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i> was intended to be a far sunnier book than its predecessor and one that would illustrate “the folly” of tumbling down on posterity “an avalanche of ill-gotten gold, or real estate.” Many critics have faulted the novel for its explaining away of hereditary guilt or its contradictory denial of it. Denis Donoghue instructs the reader in a fresh appreciation of the novel. </p><p>The John Harvard Library edition reproduces the authoritative text of <i>The House of the Seven Gables</i> in the <i>Centenary Edition of the Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne</i>.</p>